Calling ALL who solar cook! Need recipes for SCI!!!

[S B]

I need McDougall-legal/vegan recipes to send to Solar Cookers International! I have a few but I am an MWLer -- and I am sure they want some fancier fare than MWL food. By the way, I will NOT claim your recipes as my own. I will put your name, or board name, or nick name, or whatever name you like on your recipes. THANKS!

To explain.....

Back in January, one of the places I sent an email with a link the Dec. 2006 McDougall Newsletter (the one on global warming) was Solar Cookers International. I received a short "thank you" email from someone there not long afterwards.

THEN, today, I received ANOTHER email with a "thank you" for the articles and a request for some solar recipes! OBVIOUSLY, all of that emailing WAS NOT A WASTE OF TIME! It seems that at least some people are reading these articles!!

Here is the email I received from SCI today:

"A quick note to thank you for the email & links to the global warming articles. They were informative and easy to read, and it is great to have you looking out for pertinent, timely information that helps us to keep a finger on the pulse of things… thank you!!

By the way, as you’ve been solar cooking for some time now, you may have some great recipes that you’d like to share!

Please send along any recipes that you may have developed/discovered! We are always looking for new meal ideas (for ourselves, and for other solar cookers).

Thanks again, and have a sunny day!"

Yolanda Torrecillas
SCI Resource Coordinator
1919 21st St #101
Sacramento, CA 95814
Ph 916-455-4499/ Fax 916-455-4498
[email protected]

[groundhogg]

Oh man! I sure wish I had the experience to help...I've got lots of recipes, but no experience with solar cooking.

I thought the next thing I would try would be aloo choley...but I'll probably have to cut the recipe in half to fit it into the solar cooker...unless it's summer time by then...if we don't have to angle the thing up so high, I can fit the larger pot in there that I bought for the thing.

I thought aloo choley would be a good thing to try in there. The other stuff...maybe by the end of the summer I'll have some good recipes...maybe that's too late to help??????

[S B]

I do not know when the deadline is...will try to find out. (I have a feeling that it is only a few weeks -- AT THE MOST, though.)

I am currently cooking some MWL-legal bean-rice-carrot burgers in my Global solar oven for lunch (so I can get the approx. time and temp. it takes for the minced raw onion in them to get done).

If they turn out OK (and I am sure they will), I will submit this recipe -- emphasizing that the types and amounts of herbs and seasonings used in them can be changed to suit different tastes. I will also say that they can be served on a whole grain bun with variuos condiments and toppings OR on a plate smothered in vegan onion gravy OR topped with salsa or other spicy sauces, etc., WITH either some steamed veggies and/or raw veggie salad and/or raw fruit on the side.

Your idea above sound delicious but I have never made that before -- so I am no help there.

[AnnaS]

S B, I think you might be surprised at how pleased they would be to get even simple cooking ideas, not only fancy recipes. I would guess you probably have plenty of things you do, like rice or baked spuds, that they haven't already explained step-by-step.

Your burgers sound great. How about a sloppy-joe type recipe along the same lines? There's one in the Quick & Easy cookbook that is really tasty and doesn't take long to cook--p. 134, Black Bean Sloppy Joes.

I'm thinking that crockpot type recipes would work well in the solar cooker, am I right? (Haven't used one yet.) I'll bet a lot of people here have good crockpot ideas you could adapt. How about a squash stew? I have a squash-sweet potato-orange-ginger soup I adapted/changed from a Lorna Sass recipe, I could share that if you don't have one like it. In this case, you would bake the sweet potatoes and squash pieces ahead, then use them in the soup recipe.

What a fun project! We are thinking about getting a solar cooker later this spring.

[S B]

Thanks for the ideas!

Yes, I think most slow cooker recipes would work in a solar cooker -- more or less. A slow cooker tends to keep more moisture in the food than a solar cooker AND a solar cooker tends to hold more moisture in the food than a conventional oven. -- So, a solar cooker is sort of between a slow cooker and conventional oven. --

Of course, a simple box solar cooker with one reflector cooks much slower and at lower temperatures than the 6-reflector Global Sun Oven which cooks almost like (but not quite like) and almost as fast (but not quite as fast) as a conventional oven.

I will dig out some of my McDougall books and look up some stew recipes that I think might work.

Thanks again!

[S B]

Yes, LoriM, I would like that squash-sweet potato-orange-ginger soup that you adapted/changed from a Lorna Sass recipe.

Thank you!!!

[S B]

So sorry! I do not know where I got LoriM's name from!

Yes, AnnaS, please post that recipe for squash-sweet potato-orange-ginger soup!

Thank you very much!

[AnnaS]

S B--I really don't mind being mistaken for LoriM!

This is yummy, see what you can do with it. I thought it suitable for a couple of reasons--one is you could make it with leftover sweet pot. and squash that you've baked in the solar cooker for another recipe (1st day could be more of a roasted-veggy type dish). The second day you could put the soup ingredients in and puree when it's cooked enough. You might want to reduce the amount of squash, etc as it does come out VERY thick.

Three-Orange Soup

I got this idea from looking at several different Lorna Sass recipes--one was a ginger-squash soup (several variations) and another was a sweet potato-orange soup. I combined these and simplified it quite a bit. It turns out quite thick. This is one of our standard favorites now!

2 sweet potatoes
1 butternut squash
--Peel, cut into pieces and steam; set aside.

1 onion, chopped
1 T minced fresh ginger
--Saute until soft

4 cups veggy broth
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1 and 1/2 tsp orange zest
--Add to the onion mixture and heat.

Put in the sweet potato and squash pieces.
Pressure cook 5 minutes or simmer 20 minutes, until soft.
Puree in blender or with stick blender.
Season with salt & pepper, a pinch of thyme or herbs de Provence.
Serve with couscous or rice and steamed broccoli. Also good just with whole grain bread and a salad.

[S B]

This sounds fabulous!

Thank you VERY MUCH!